Still can not isolate the fridge.

[McLosi]

So a while back, with help from here I got a solar panel.
Only issue is, I cannot get the fridge to be completely off.
So when I left the van, Master switch off, dose board off, the fridge LCD stay on showing the battery error.
I'm assuming this fridge LCD (Shown below but not in error state as I'm currently away on EHU) caused a battery drain as I left the panel out and hooked up, but when I came to move the van a week later, the battery was flat.
The next time I left it, I disconnected the battery from the van so the panel was just directly in the battery and it kept it topped up.

My worry is that I'm going away in a couple of weeks with no ehu and won't be using the fridge at all, so I don't want that draining the battery for no reason.
Can I make it so the fridge isn't drawing any power no matter how little?

Oh I tried removing the fuse in this board and it stays on.

New item by David McNae

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Dustydog]

What make model year of caravan and same for your fridge please?
It seems none are ever wired the same . Without the info requested it’s hard to offer help!

 

[Beardy]

Did you have this problem before installing the solar panel? Did the fridge display stay on all the time? If not, can you easily disconnect the feed from the solar panel to the battery to see if makes any difference?

 

[Milkfloat]

I find it hard to believe that an LCD on it's own would drain a battery in a week even without solar topping it up. Is the fridge actually trying to cool during this time as it thinks it is connected to the car? Does holding down one of the buttons on the fridge panel for 5 seconds not turn it off?

 

[Gafferbill]

....the small retangular button below the display is the off switch.
Hold it pushed in for 5 seconds to turn the fridge off.
Off is indicated by the blue LED.
If the blue LED stays lit then it is likely that the PCB has developed a fault and will need replacing...a common fault with these fridges.
Replacement is a plug and play DIY job taking about 30 minutes.
Cost about £80-90 for a new PCB.

 

[McLosi]

What make model year of caravan and same for your fridge please?
It seems none are ever wired the same . Without the info requested it’s hard to offer help!

Sorry, that would have helped. 2006 coachman pastiche. Thetford fridge. Not sure on model of it.

 

[McLosi]

Did you have this problem before installing the solar panel? Did the fridge display stay on all the time? If not, can you easily disconnect the feed from the solar panel to the battery to see if makes any difference?

No, the fridge acts the same if the panel is connected or not.

 

[McLosi]

I find it hard to believe that an LCD on it's own would drain a battery in a week even without solar topping it up. Is the fridge actually trying to cool during this time as it thinks it is connected to the car? Does holding down one of the buttons on the fridge panel for 5 seconds not turn it off?

So do I TBF. I really didn't expect it to do that but all switched were off etc. It comes up with the error which means it's not connected to the car for charging. It could be trying to cool which then I would expect it to do that.

Pressing that button doesn't seem to do anything.

 

[McLosi]

....the small retangular button below the display is the off switch.
Hold it pushed in for 5 seconds to turn the fridge off.
Off is indicated by the blue LED.
If the blue LED stays lit then it is likely that the PCB has developed a fault and will need replacing...a common fault with these fridges.
Replacement is a plug and play DIY job taking about 30 minutes.
Cost about £80-90 for a new PCB.

Should I be able to turn it off while hooked up? I can try tomorrow when we pack up.

 

[Beardy]

No, the fridge acts the same if the panel is connected or not.

As posted above, the LCD display alone should not be enough to drain the battery in a year, let alone a week.
Looks like you are going to have to do some electrical fault finding. You need to know how much current is being drawn from the battery with everything switched off. If your not confident in using a multimeter one way to do this would be using one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256521086097
With the EHU disconnected and everything switched off, unplug each fuse in turn and plug the tester in. It will tell you how much current is being drawn in each circuit which should point you in the direction of the fault.
Do you know how old your battery is and what condition it's in?

 

[McLosi]

As posted above, the LCD display alone should not be enough to drain the battery in a year, let alone a week.
Looks like you are going to have to do some electrical fault finding. You need to know how much current is being drawn from the battery with everything switched off. If your not confident in using a multimeter one way to do this would be using one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256521086097
With the EHU disconnected and everything switched off, unplug each fuse in turn and plug the tester in. It will tell you how much current is being drawn in each circuit which should point you in the direction of the fault.
Do you know how old your battery is and what condition it's in?

Ah great idea! I'll get onto that once home.

No, I bought the van 2 years ago and as far as I know it could be the same battery from new.

 

[Beardy]

Ah great idea! I'll get onto that once home.

No, I bought the van 2 years ago and as far as I know it could be the same battery from new.

It could be that the battery is reaching the end of its life, they deteriorate over time due to sulpation. If they are left in a low charge state the sulphation is accelerated and they die quicker. This can be reversed to an extent with a smart charger with desulphation mode, but I've always been sceptical about how effective they are.

 

[McLosi]

It could be that the battery is reaching the end of its life, they deteriorate over time due to sulpation. If they are left in a low charge state the sulphation is accelerated and they die quicker. This can be reversed to an extent with a smart charger with desulphation mode, but I've always been sceptical about how effective they are.

True, might be worth buying a new one.

 

[Hutch]

On my Coachman the fridge control panel is live all the time, as is the awning light and the aerial booster. I isolate the fridge by the fuse on the PSU fuse board. I see there are two fuses for your fridge a 15 amp and a 5 amp that links to the aerial. Try pulling both.

 

[McLosi]

On my Coachman the fridge control panel is live all the time, as is the awning light and the aerial booster. I isolate the fridge by the fuse on the PSU fuse board. I see there are two fuses for your fridge a 15 amp and a 5 amp that links to the aerial. Try pulling both.

I never noticed that! Think I was blinkered by the first one. Will try that thank you.

 

[trevormonty]

There will be two 12V feeds to fridge, low power one to drive controller/LCD and high current one from car to drive 12V cooling circuit.
Unless previous owner has rewired it, I doubt fridge will be running 12V cooling circuit without car connected. As others have said a good battery should power controller/LCD for days.

 

[Gafferbill]

......a fridge light is a well known reason for flattening the caravan battery and runs off the same circuit as the LCD display. Do you leave the fridge door open to ventilate when not in use and does the light stay lit?

 

[McLosi]

......a fridge light is a well known reason for flattening the caravan battery and runs off the same circuit as the LCD display. Do you leave the fridge door open to ventilate when not in use and does the light stay lit?

You know what, I do! But I'm sure it goes off after 1 minute. Something to test though for sure!
Thank you.

 

[McLosi]

As posted above, the LCD display alone should not be enough to drain the battery in a year, let alone a week.
Looks like you are going to have to do some electrical fault finding. You need to know how much current is being drawn from the battery with everything switched off. If your not confident in using a multimeter one way to do this would be using one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256521086097
With the EHU disconnected and everything switched off, unplug each fuse in turn and plug the tester in. It will tell you how much current is being drawn in each circuit which should point you in the direction of the fault.
Do you know how old your battery is and what condition it's in?

Ok so the saga continues
I disconnected the battery from the van and left it for 4 days. When left it showed at 13.7 and after 4 days it showed as 12.1.
So replaced it with a new bigger battery and hoped all would be good.
New battery connected to soar panel and the van and have left it for 5 days. It was at 13.6 when left and today its at 11.5.
Using the device suggested I tested every fuse in the board.
One marked Fridge Ignition/Radio showed as between 0.90 & 1.45A
Fuse Marked as Van battery showed as 0.75A

I have nothing to compare this to, should these be drawing power? The master switch is off but the trip switches were on.
I've bought the battery home to charge as I'm away for 3 days and wont have EHU and at this rate wont have 12v either!

 

[JTQ]

One marked Fridge Ignition/Radio showed as between 0.90 & 1.45A

This hints to me that the underlying issue might well be the radio?
If the type used in cars, these can "Hoover up" power even when ostensibly "off" if the installer did not also fit a switch in the configuration that replicates how a car's ignition switch handles the radio.
These normally have two feeds one a maintained feed of trivial consumption just enough to keep the radio's tuner selections "alive", and one that the car's ignition switches that powers the radio when it is "on". By design car radio don't have to be remotely power frugal so often are not, as there is a great big alternator to power it whilst in intended use, you are driving.
Sloopy caravan electrical equipment installers some even claiming to be professional simply supply one feed a maintained one that they split at the radio to power both, without that needed switch in the high power one. You will guess how I know they do.

You need to check if the battery dies on its own, totally unconnected for a week, if it drops below 12.5Volts its a long time past being useful in our off grid use context, IMO. Still a good garage door stop though.

 

[McLosi]

This hints to me that the underlying issue might well be the radio?
If the type used in cars, these can "Hoover up" power even when ostensibly "off" if the installer did not also fit a switch in the configuration that a car's ignition switch handles the radio.
These normally have two feeds one a maintained feed of trivial consumption just enough to keep the radio's tuner selections "alive", and one that the car's ignition switches that powers the radio when it is one. By design car radio don't have to be remotely power frugal so often are not, as there is a great big alternator to power it whilst in intended use, you are driving.
Sloopy caravan electrical equipment installers some even claiming to be professional simply supply one feed a maintained one that they split at the radio to power both, without that needed switch in the high power one. You will guess how I know they do.

You need to check if the battery dies on its own, totally unconnected for a week, if it drops below 12.5Volts its a long time past being useful in our off grid use context, IMO. Still a good garage door stop though.

That would make a lot of sense and I have read this before. So for now, pulling that fuse out might be ok, but does mean that radio will possibly be draining while im off grid. I may have to look to disconnect it as I do not use it anyway!
The replacement battery had not been charged for 6 weeks and was still above 12.5v so im happy that one is ok as it came from the on site engineer at the storage yard. Looks like im going back tomorrow to fight the radio!
Thanks for teh heads up.

 

[JTQ]

Assuming it is also your issue, you might be interested in my permanent fix, using a cheap Halfords toggle switch featuring an LED that reminds us it is on power, even when the radio itself is off.
Electically, just in series with "power" feed to the radio, leaving the maintained un switched.

 

[GUMPY]

The radio memory is a big draw I have a switch next to the radio that disconnects power completely from the radio, it's the way forward especially as we haven't used it in a year, preferring to stream to the BT speaker we carry.

 

[McLosi]

Assuming it is also your issue, you might be interested in my permanent fix, using a cheap Halfords toggle switch featuring an LED that reminds us it is on power, even when the radio itself is off.
Electically, just in series with "power" feed to the radio, leaving the maintained un switched.

View attachment 7114

Was just chatting to father in law and saying i would add one of these. We don't use the radio but if we came to sell the van, would like it there still so this seems like the best option!

 

[McLosi]

The radio memory is a big draw I have a switch next to the radio that disconnects power completely from the radio, it's the way forward especially as we haven't used it in a year, preferring to stream to the BT speaker we carry.

Exactly, Google home powers all our music needs!